Tasty Yummies: Gluten-free + Vegan Lentil “Meat” Loaf

I found Tasty Yummies over a year ago, right around the time I began Healthful Pursuit. In fact, Beth’s blog was the first to be added to my Google Reader; and later, the first to be posted to my blog roll. What can I say, she’s awesome!

I’ve always been fascinated with Beth’s eye for design (she owns her own design studio), creative gluten-free dishes, and approach to health. Not to mention, she’s an avid yogi… just like I try to be. So, when I was coming up with a list of bloggers I envisioned would hold the fort while I was away doing yoga, it only made sense that she be added to the pack.

And… she made the most amazing recipe for us, exclusive to Healthful Pursuit!

Hello, everyone!! I am super excited to be here as a guest-poster on Healthful Pursuit. Leanne’s blog is one of my absolute favorites and I constantly find myself on here not only for inspiration with meals and recipes, but for the affirmation that making the right choices with my food provides so much more than feeling good and staying healthy.

Just to give you a somewhat brief introduction to me and how I eat, I have been gluten-free for over 7 years now. I found that I had an intolerance after many years of struggling with digestive issues, with no answer. Even though I felt instantly better upon removing gluten from my diet, I still struggled for years with my health, having what I now believe to have been an overall weakened immune system, always catching any type of virus or sickness that would make it’s way around, nothing very serious, just colds, flus, sinus infections, migraines, etc.

Additionally, I constantly felt sluggish and I put on a significant amount of weight over the course of 5 years of eating gluten-free and I just didn’t feel as good as I knew I could and should, considering I had already made such a huge life change by going gluten-free. In March of 2010, I decided to do a 30-day cleanse, removing all of the other usual offenders besides gluten. I took out dairy, caffeine, sugar, alcohol, meat, seafood, processed foods, salt, etc.

After the 30 days, I felt the best I ever had, 20 pounds had literally fallen off of me and I was so full of energy. I had never ever felt that good! I knew I was onto something, so I decided to stick with avoiding processed foods. I decided the only meat that I would buy and eat would come from a local farmer that raises his animals on pasture and in the most humane way possible. And also severely limited my intake of the other “trouble” items for me, sugar, dairy, salt, caffeine and alcohol. I lost another 10 pounds, fairly quickly, making the total weight loss from these small modifications to 30 pounds, in just 2 months!

It was like my body couldn’t wait to get it off!

Fast-forward to now 2 years later and not only have I maintained my healthy eating lifestyle of being gluten-free, I have continued to avoid all processed foods, refined sugars and as of 3 weeks ago, I also permanently removed dairy. Overall, I eat a lot of naturally vegan foods and I maintain a mostly vegetarian diet. We eat meat (all grass-fed from a wonderful local farmer), at most, once a week at home, sometimes as little as once a month, so I like to consider myself a “conscientious omnivore”. In addition to eating as healthy as I possibly can for me, I also have a daily yoga practice, which I have found to be the perfect compliment to my lifestyle, mentally, emotionally and physically.

For the first time ever, I have found a way of living that fits me and my body, it never feels like work or a struggle and I am constantly grateful for all of it.

I started Tasty Yummies just after I did that 30-day cleanse 2 years ago, that allowed me to change the way I look at food. I started posting my recipes so I could share with others the foods and meals that I was eating since so often people were asking me, “if you can’t eat this, that or this – what exactly CAN you eat?” or “Don’t you get bored with eating?”. Those questions always floor me, because oftentimes find myself feeling overwhelmed by all the possibilities, my head spinning not knowing where to even begin some weeks when I am meal planning.

Finding the foods I am intolerant to has been one of the best things that ever happened to me. I finally feel like the best possible version of me. It brings me so much joy to not only experiment and explore finding fun and exciting ways to eat healthy for myself, but to also share those recipes and discoveries with people that I know are finding that same joy themselves.

I was trying to determine what recipe I would share here on Healthful Pursuit, at the time I got the email from Leanne, I had been playing around with trying to perfect a lentil loaf recipe. Until this final recipe that I share with you today, I had come close, but it was hard to keep the loaf together. It would taste absolutely delicious would be a crumbly or mushy mess!

I was beginning to get frustrated and then I remembered how well my lentil burgers held together from pureeing the lentils into a thick and smooth paste, first. I decided to give that a try with this loaf and it was the key to holding it together. That, plus the sturdiness and bindingness of the flax-seed egg and the oats and almond flour, it was a great combination.

If you don’t eat grains of any kind, you could try to exclusively use almond flour (adding in more) instead of including the oats, but I haven’t yet tried that myself.

There are a lot of great flavors happening with this lentil loaf, it is hearty and satisfying and almost even a little “meaty”. I wanted to make my own spicy BBQ sauce from scratch for the loaf, which for some reason I have never done before, but it was surprisingly easy and definitely worth it. I am not sure why I haven’t been doing this all along instead of buying expensive organic BBQ sauces to avoid that pesky high fructose corn syrup that is in so many others. It paired so perfectly with this loaf and now I have a big mason jar full of homemade BBQ sauce in the fridge for all kinds of delicious meals. My meat and BBQ loving Southern-boy hubby, not only loved the lentil loaf, but he couldn’t stop raving about my BBQ sauce. He was calling it “Sweet Baby Beth’s BBQ Sauce”, haha.

I honestly was so excited about finally conquering this lentil loaf that I found myself dancing around the kitchen while taking the photos. I love when that happens. As awful as it feels when you fail at a recipe, and you find yourself so bummed out, there is absolutely NOTHING like that feeling of accomplishment when you figure it out and master it. I live for that feeling!

There are a lot of great flavors happening with this lentil loaf, it is hearty and satisfying and almost even a little “meaty”.

Ingredients

2 tablespoon ground flax seeds

6 tablespoon boiling water

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup mushrooms, diced

2 cups fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon fresh thyme, roughly chopped

¾ cup spicy vegan BBQ sauce, recipe below

salt and pepper, to taste

2 cups cooked green lentils, cooled and split into 1½ cups and ½ cup

1 cup gluten-free rolled oats, split in half *see note

½ cup almond flour

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375F. Add the ground flax seeds to a small bowl, pour the boiling hot water over and stir to combine well. Set aside and allow it to thicken and cool.

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat, add the onion and garlic and sauté for 5-8 minutes until the onions are tender. Add in the mushrooms and cook another 3 to 5 minutes until the mushrooms are tender, add in the thyme and spinach and cook until the spinach is wilted, about 2 minutes. Add in ½ cup of the BBQ sauce, stir to combine and turn off the heat, add salt and pepper to taste, if it needs it.

Process 1½ cups of the cooked lentils and ½ cup of the oats in the food processor until smooth (some whole bits may remain, that’s ok). Spoon the mixture into a large bowl, add in the remaining lentils and oats, plus the flax “egg”, almond flour and vegetable mixture. Stir really well to combine. Then get your hands in there, just like you would with a regular meat loaf or meatballs, and make sure it is mixed and mashed together really well.

Spoon the mixture into a parchment paper lined 9? x 5? loaf pan, (leave a bit of the parchment paper hanging over so you can easily lift the loaf out when it is cooked). Using your hands, you really want to press it in good. Brush on the remaining ¼ cup of BBQ sauce over the top.

Bake uncovered for 35 to 40 minutes at 375F. Cool in the pan for about 5, pull the loaf out by grabbing the sides of the parchment paper and lifting up and allow it to cool for another 5 to 10 minutes on a cooking rack. Slice and serve.

Notes

If you don’t eat grains of any kind, you could try to exclusively use almond flour (adding in more) instead of including the oats, but I haven’t yet tried that myself.

Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion sauté for about 5 minutes, until the onion is slightly tender, add the garlic and saute for another minute or two.

Add in the remaining ingredients and stir well to combine, reduce the heat to a medium-low and allow to simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring often.

Taste the sauce and make sure you don’t want more of anything, you may want it more sweet, spicy, sour, salty. I like my BBQ sauce tangy and smoky, so I added another ¼ cup of vinegar and another teaspoon of liquid smoke.

Remove from the heat, allow to cool for a few minutes, then puree until smooth in the food processor or blender.

Notes

If you don’t like spicy, you can skip the sriracha, add less or use just a pinch of two of red pepper flakes instead.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and take some time to check out some of my other recipes and posts on Tasty Yummies, too! You can also connect with me on Facebook or Twitter. Thanks again Leanne, for having me as a guest on Healthful Pursuit. I hope you are enjoying your adventure and the peace of India right now. I cannot wait to hear all about it.

I wish you had committed to being a vegan by completely eliminating meat from your diet. Please consider widening your circle of compassion to include not only your own and your families health – but also the well-being of animals. Family farms maybe better than factory farms but death is still death.. cruel and easily avoidable.
I rid myself of meat a long time ago – I did it for the animals and the added benefit for me was that it was healthier for both my body and soul – a perfect win win scenario – I love it.

Hello! Would this recipe work without the BBQ sauce? I would like to use a vegetarian gravy instead but just noticed it is supposed to be put on the top before baking and I had planned to add gravy on the side after taking it out of the oven.

Love this recipe. We got married last year around Thanksgiving and since both my husband and I are vegetarians (and I am GF) and a large portion of his family are vegan we asked the chef at the venue if he could make this loaf as the vegan/gf alternative. We didn’t want the traditional pasta or risotto that so many weddings have for vegetarians. It got rave reviews so much so that I was requested to make it for our Christmas dinner by family members who have since turned vegetarian.

My question is, if I were to make multiple loaves at once, cook them, and then freeze them to take out for a busy weeknight meal do you think they would thae and reheat properly?

love your recipes! But why are you saying you are vegan/vegeterian if you do eat meat. I am always suprised why people in america can not just say healthy cooking which you do and local which is the best. No need to try to fit into a group. I think vegeterian/vegan should be reserved for when you truly eat only one way. its better anywhere to eat a variety of foods, in Italy and Europe we do eat some meat but lots of vegetables anyway and nobody gets so caught up in titles. vegan processed food is truly bad so because its vegan does not mean its healthy. sourpatch candy and lays chips are vegan too…and for sure not a healthy food…
keep up the great blog :))

Praise

Leanne is extremely intelligent and hilarious. Fat Fueled is an honest and eye-opening look into using fat to balance the body that anyone can understand and implement for lifelong change. I have already recommended it to everyone that I know!

 Megan

Found you when I needed you most. I have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, PCOS, sleep apnea, and many other health conditions. Started watching all of your videos and listening to podcasts and I have been eating keto for almost 2 months now. I have my own period after never having one EVER without birth control and I feel amazing! Thank you for everything that you do!

 Jessica

I’ve been struggling with several health conditions for over 10+ years and I’m only 28. This last year has been particularly tough as my husband and I began unsuccessful fertility treatments and I was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition. I was in a very bad place at the end of 2017 mentally, physically, and emotionally. I turned to keto under your support and for the first time in a year, I could get out of bed. It was your support through your podcast and the resources you provide us that has given me the strength to stand up for myself and love myself again. You have given me the courage to start my own blog and share my story, something I thought I would never, ever have the guts to do. I just want to thank you for showing such strength and reminding me that I have the power over my thoughts and feelings about myself.

Thank you, Leanne. I’m following you from Switzerland! I just cured fibromyalgia with your Fat Fueled version of the ketogenic diet in only 1 month (and lost 4kg) after several years of suffering, medications and expensive exams. Thank you for your videos!

 Anna

I am a 70-year-old woman who has tried to eat well for years, but nothing I was doing was changing my bad report at my wellness exams. I had high cholesterol, high blood pressure, was pre-diabetic, overweight etc. I have fibromyalgia, osteopenia, hypoglycemia, and hypothyroidism. My doctor wanted to put me on statins for my cholesterol for months & I finally agreed to take the lowest dosage he could give me. I took two pills and just couldn’t continue because I hate drugs. I was determined to change things myself with food. So I purchased The Keto Diet book, listened to The Keto Diet Podcast as well as practiced intermittent fasting, and at my very next wellness exam, I received a glowing report! He said I should be a poster child for the elderly. No need for statins, no more pre-diabetic, blood pressure was perfect. The best part of my visit was telling him I didn’t take the drugs. He was so surprised and wanted to know what I did. Leanne is just a love and her book is so informative and written so well that even an old lady like me can understand.

 Candi

The Keto Diet changed 15 years of misery in 3 months! I’ve suffered from schizophrenia for 18 years now, but when I found something that helped, it made me gain 40 kilos in 2 months. I tried every diet available, but then my doctor sent me an email about how low-carb diets could help reduce my hunger with this medication. I found your website and started the next day! After doing the Keto diet for 3 months, I feel great, am not tired and even able to cut down on the medication I’ve taken for 9 years. I cannot express how grateful I am for finding your website!

 Sophie

After struggling with amenorrhea since 2009, I had nearly given up. Last year, I found keto and your podcast and have been on the journey of high fat, low carb, whole food, grass fed/finished meats, dairy free, NOT tracking, no more excessive cardio or hormone replacement therapy, I now take more baths, walks, early bedtimes, and listen to my body. Voila! The lovely lady friend has honored me with her presence. I couldn’t be happier!

 Tara

I just wanted​ to send you a message telling you how much I enjoy listening to your podcast. I found you on Instagram right as I decided to try keto. You have been so inspirational and I have learned so much from you. I tell my friends that I binge listened to your podcast because I listened to every episode since April this year, and I have enjoyed every one of them. I listen to them mostly while I’m running and get to the end of my run without even realizing it because I have been so focused on the information I’m hearing. I also wanted to tell thank you for the quality of the content that you share. I just wanted to share with you that I have enjoyed your show from the beginning but now that I’m caught up and trying to find another show I realized just how much I enjoyed it. Thank you for all you do for this community.

 Jamie

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 Heather

I just bought The Keto Diet, and I’m excited to follow your approach. I joined other keto groups and found them to be pushy, with lots of dairy and no exercise. I have been following a Paleo way of eating for a long time now, and your approach will be much better for me. I’m so happy to have found your book and look forward to losing weight and gaining my health back.

 Christine

I turned to Keto looking for a way to lose weight, and I did! But now I am so happy to have discovered that it is much more than just weight loss. I feel much better than before and I am starting to understand how my body works, without restrictions, just listening to what is best for me. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s at 17 and have had to fight with it since then. With the change in diet, my T3, T4, and antibodies are better than ever and I don’t need additional medication – I am able to control it with food, and that makes me really happy!

 Marta

I tried keto paleo a couple years ago and felt like I failed. I obsessively tracked everything and I was always tired! So I went back to just paleo with more carbs and it was so awful! I gained 20 pounds, but more importantly, I got so tired and depressed that I could not even get out of bed on some days! So, I have returned to keto paleo, but you have set me free! I eat more intuitively and am not a slave to tracking. You “gave me permission” to do this stress-free. I also no longer feel guilty when I need to carb up for a workout (I am a triathlete). I love how I feel with this eating lifestyle plan and now, thanks to you, I can stick with it!

 Lisa

Fat adapting has truly simplified my life and gave me the energy to do what I love! Plus, Leanne’s approach to keto food prep is so effortless. Everything tastes amazing!

 Breana

After reading your blog for about a year I finally bought your book, The Keto Diet, and started eating keto almost 2 weeks ago. I’m 57 and fearful of Alzheimer’s, and my mind seems clearer and more focused. Yesterday, I found myself licking my salad plate to get all the yummy fat off of it! Thanks so much for all your info and help!

 Sharon

You. Are. AMAZING! I have been struggling for years with health issues (joint pain, fatigue, weight gain, skin issues, depression, anxiety… the list goes on). I have been gluten free for over a decade and started Paleo three years ago. I have listened to paleo podcasts for years and continued to tweak my diet, hoping for a solution to my health problems. Paleo helped a bit but I still had all of the issues, just to a lesser degree. After being diagnosed with hypothyroidism, I tried autoimmune paleo and finally came across your podcast. I immediately went “keto” and within 3 days I had ENGERY, I could THINK, I was no longer depressed! I am now 3 weeks in and couldn’t wait any longer to let you know how thankful I am for you and your work. Not only is the content life changing, but you present it in such an easily digestible way. You are open and so thorough that you literally answer all of the questions I have before I can ask them. I could say so much more… but for now. Thank you for all you do!

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Leanne Vogel has experienced success in using her recipes and keto-based diet. It works with her lifestyle but there are no assurances or representations of any kind made by Leanne Vogel or Healthful Pursuit Inc. that you will attain any success in using the same recipes or adopting a keto-based diet. Healthful Pursuit provides information in respect to healthy living, recipes, nutrition, and diet and is intended for informational purposes only. The information provided is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment nor is it to be construed as such. We cannot guarantee that the information provided by Healthful Pursuit reflects the most up-to-date medical research. Information is provided without any representations or warranties of any kind. Please consult a qualified physician for medical advice, and always seek the advice of a qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding your health and nutrition program.